Sunday, November 27, 2011

Handmade Holidays

Now that it's post-Thanksgiving, it's OK to talk winter holidays:  Chanukah & Christmas... and my nephew's December 22nd birthday.  I've been working on gifts.  First, these numbered beanbags.


For the front fabric, I used a pair of old corduroy pants.



For the fabric backs, I used fabrics from all different sources.


For instance, the sharks, monkeys, pawprints, and dinosaurs came from JoAnn Fabrics and were purchased for projects like this.  The motorcycles and planes were from a little mom & pop fabric shop nearby.  The red swirly fabric I bought over a year ago to back a quilt kit I never made.  And the two striped ones are old shirts of mine.


Then I did numbers to match the backs.


Once I had a stack of parts, I needed to iron on the number appliques.



Then I sewed around the appliques.  These, for the record, were my first-ever appliques.  For those of you who are really beginner sewing types like I am, some things I learned:

Sewing that damned zigzag around an applique is hard.  Seriously.  Of course, it got easier most of the way through when I realized that the little notch line on my sewing machine foot was the center line of the stitch.  Yeah.  I'm a little... rather than dim, we'll call it not observant.  So before that, it was really hard to keep the stitching on the edge of the numbers and I had to rip some out and redo them.  Honestly, even after I figured that out it was hard.  Stitches are as big as they are, and I'm still working out how to gauge getting the stitches where they need to be when it's time to turn the fabric.  Speaking of which, the tutorial is not kidding about the slowness and futziness of the sewing of the appliques.  Slow.  And futzy.

In the end, they came together.  How cute are these?


I've got the beginnings of another set in green for the other nephew, but first I have something else I'm working on.  It's something I've never done before and involves my very own patterns.  You'll see soon!

These beanbags, though, are now available for purchase in the Reef Botanicals Handmade Artists Shop.

Shared with:

Chic on a Shoestring DecoratingPhotobucketA Little Knick KnackDesigner Garden Keeping It SimpleBWS tips buttonSumo's Sweet StuffTip Junkie handmade projectsTodays Creative BlogHOGFun Stuff FridaysDragonfly Designs

9 comments:

Marie/Underground Crafter said...

These are so cute! What a great gift idea (and great upcycling idea!).

Unknown said...

THey look great! I love the idea of reusing old clothes to make new stuff (just did that myself). They will have loads of fun with those!

Larissa said...

Thanks! Wait'll you see what I have in the pipeline next!

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

I think they look great! Well worth all that zig-zagging. And I love that you are upcycling :)

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

great idea for repurposing clothing

Jenny Hall / Seamingly Smitten said...

These bean bags are such a great idea! Educational, fun and an upcycling project! Can't wait to see what you do next!

Please check out our Sew Crafty Christmas sewing event!
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Vicky @ Mess For Less said...

Love how the fabric was from an old pair of pants! That is such a great use of them. He will love getting these. I am a new follower visiting from Keeping It Simple. Vicky from Mess For Less

kinter said...

Those turned out great! I never even noticed a thing about the applique. It cna be hard to know when to turn the fabric! Glad you figured it out! Thanks for linking @ This Week!

Lindsi B said...

Oh wow! Those beanbags turned out fantastic! I adore them! Would you please share this with my readers for Fun Stuff Fridays linky party? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/12/fun-stuff-fridays-3.html

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